Have Internet, Will Blog

Warning: We were going to blog about our Tokyo adventure in several separate posts while we were traveling, but the technology at our disposal wouldn't allow us to post pictures along with the text. We decided to wait to tell the rest of the story until we could get photos up as well. This all adds up to one very long posting. Don’t complain. If you choose to read it, I thank you for being interested in our lives. If you don’t choose to read it, then I’m sorry you lack culture and class. Hehe, just kidding. I separated them so you could read them one at a time if desired.


Tokyo was a lot of fun. The city has tons to see and tons of great food to eat (my favorite activity). Getting from the airport to the hotel, however, was quite a challenge. Marc, I, and Marielle had two suitcases, two travel bags, Marielle’s car seat, Marielle’s stroller, and my purse. The subways had a complete lack of elevators, thus we had to carry the luggage, the stroller, the car seat, and Marielle up down every flight of stairs in between transfers at each subway stop. Lisa, PC, and Nathan were facing similar circumstances. After several times climbing and descending several staircases I felt like the cab ride which would have cost $70 should have been the chosen travel vehicle. I looked over at Lisa a couple of times and felt like she also thought that the $70 would have been worth it. When going up the last staircase I think I would have paid $7,000,000 not to have traveled that far holding and lugging all of our stuff with us. (ok so that is a bit of an exaggeration). Anyway, when we did get to our hotel we were very pleased at our accommodations. I have stayed at military hotels before, and they are always clean and safe, but this one was definitely a step up from the rest. It had a great pool, nice rooms, and a shop where we could buy the essentials i.e. Marielle’s milk, ice cream, soda, etc.

On our first night in Tokyo we ate at a really good Korean restaurant. Ok I know we were in Japan and before you all start giving us a hard time, we all ate plenty of Japanese food. Let me tell you that the Korean food was awesome. Marc did have an incident at the Korean restaurant though. We all sat in the back room where there was a pit in the floor that you had to step into. Apparently Marc did not see the pit and instead of graciously stepping into he slid into it and crashed into the table sending a dipping dish, that broke, and silverware flying. Lisa, P.C. and I could not help laughing although Marc, who now thinks it was funny, was obviously frustrated at the time. After Marc’s slip we ate a great meal. At the end, however, the kids got restless and Lisa and I took the kids to the hotel while the guys took care of the check. The kids LOVED the pool. Marielle kept saying WaWa WaWa and then she would yell WaaaaaWaaaaa in an excited voice. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her so excited about the pool.

We went out on our first day and got Starbucks and bagels for breakfast, which we did every morning because they were good. Then we went to a see the Senso Ji temple near Asakusa (the pictures are above). We all thought it was pretty neat. Afterwards we went to the kitchen district of Kappabashi-dori. First though we ran into some Chinese tourists who thought Nathan and Marielle were pretty cool. They thought Marielle was so cool in fact that one of the men felt compelled to comb Marielle’s hair with his comb. What?!? Uhhh I felt like that was kinda weird. Anyway, the kitchen district was awesome. It’s a place where all the people go to buy supplies for their restaurants. There are tons of shops with pots, pans, silverware, chopsticks, plates, vases, etc… Marc and I got some cool serving platters, they look very Crate and Barrelish without the Crate and Barrel prices. Lisa got a teapot that is very Japanese and very cool. After stopping to eat, we headed home for more pool time and the boys went out to do exploring Akihabara. (Apparently it is the electronics district, snore).


















The next day in Tokyo we went to the shopping district at Ginza and to the Shitamachi History Museum in Ueno. The museum, which showed an older, Edo Era Japan, was cute because the kids could touch everything in the museum. They could even try on the clothes, see picture. Ginza was cool, but too expensive to buy anything other than eyeliner. I was out of eyeliner so I bought some. We ate at what Marc and I thought was a great udon noodle place. Lisa and P.C. who ordered poorly (sorry guys) didn’t enjoy their meals, but Marc and I thought it was great. Then we ate at a great Japanese restaurant out in Meguro that had breaded pork (called Tonkatsu) with all you can eat rice, miso, and cabbage for dinner. It was P.C.’s find and it was really good. It was also the only restaurant in Tokyo that had high chairs.

On day three we went to the Imperial Palace and its East Gardens. The Palace was neat and the gardens were beautiful. Marielle really enjoyed walking and running and prancing through the garden. Nathan and Marielle loved the fish in the ponds. After the Palace we all went on a search for food. A very long search for food. We thought it would be easier to just find a place instead of searching for a specific restaurant, but it wasn’t. We finally ended up at a Ramen restaurant that our guide book had recommended. For those of you who didn’t know, they have Ramen in Japan. While Ramen originated in China, the Japanese have adapted the dish as their own and have a number of Ramen restaurants. (hehe sorry Lisa but I had to do it). Anyway, the ramen was awesome and cheap to boot. For dinner Lisa and P.C. did room service and Marc and I did take out. Marielle and Nathan had pizza.



We had mainly chosen to eat in this night because our afternoon trip to witness the spectacle of the Harajuku Shopping District ended in disaster. While in Harajuku, we visited a 100-Yen store, watched our daughter gag herself and throw up everywhere (not once, but twice), and failed to see any of the vampy goth teens (google it) that we heard hung out there. They would have made for a neat picture with Marielle and Nathan . . . I think. See Lisa's blog for more on Harajuku, the 100-Yen store, and amazing vomit.

The next day when we got ready to leave it was kind of a sad day. It was so great to see Lisa, PC, and Nathan. Marielle loved having Nathan around. All week she kept going up to him to pat his arm and say Baby! She thought Nathan was pretty cool. It was neat seeing them interacting together. Sharing some toys and fighting over others. It was nice for all of us to get to hang out with Nathan, PC, and Lisa and we are sad that we are again 14 hours away. Lisa, PC, and Nathan are such great friends and we are glad they are doing what they want, but are sad they are so far away. Hopefully we’ll get to see each other again soon.

On the flight home Marielle was a champ again. I am sooooo grateful that she traveled well. She was such a sport. She slept, ate, and played on the plane, but didn’t really complain. When we got home she ate Oreos for the first time, ate some more pizza and then went to bed. We’ll that is all I can think of. There are more stories but I am tired and need to go to bed.